After Testing 24 Rice Cookers, We Found the 8 Best Ones for Every Type of Rice

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So you want to buy a rice cooker. Congratulations! It took me 37 years to get there. I was convinced that cooking rice in a saucepan was the way to go. But the best rice cookers (as I now know, after my colleagues and I tested oodles of them) are easier and more efficient than using the stovetop. The best rice cookers not only cook rice, but they also cook rice evenly and quickly. Some can even be customized to cook at precise temperatures, or cook unique varieties of rice, like semi-brown or GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) rice. Whether you’re searching for your first rice cooker ever or want to upgrade an old standby, I have eight outstanding recommendations, including a mini rice cooker and one that weighs the rice and water for you.

The Winners, at a Glance

The Best Rice Cooker

Hamilton Beach Programmable Rice Cooker

$67 at Amazon $67 at Home Depot $80 at Walmart

Don’t you love it when the cheapest option just happens to be the best? The Hamilton Beach Rice Cooker’s control panel is elementary compared to its competitors (there are only two settings for rice: White Rice and Quick White Rice), but it excelled in every test, producing well-cooked and evenly cooked grains faster than any full-sized machine we tested.

The Best Zojirushi Rice Cooker

Zojirushi Induction Heating System Rice Cooker & Warmer

$452

$369 at Amazon $385 at Williams Sonoma $385 at Target

Induction technology turns the inner cookpot of this rice cooker into the heating source, resulting in nearly perfect rice every time. It’s the best option for cooks who prepare a lot of Japanese rice, as it features highly specialized settings, such as those for GABA rice. The gentle heat of the Extended Keep Warm feature was a unique and welcome feature that wowed me.

Another Great Zojirushi Rice Cooker

Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer

$229

$194 at Amazon $260 at Target $224 at Home Depot

This has been the preferred rice cooker in our test kitchen for years. Its fuzzy logic works, and every time we’ve cooked with it, we’re pleased with the results. It can handle minor measuring errors with finesse, and that’s a real boon if you want to cook a unique variety of rice not programmed into the Neuro Fuzzy’s presets. I’m a big fan of slightly sticky rice, so I loved this rice cooker, which errs on the side of being too soft. I mention that mostly to steer fans of firm, dry rice in another direction! (Might I suggest the KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker?)

The Best Cuckoo Rice Cooker

Cuckoo 6-Cup Micom Rice Cooker

$130

$80 at Amazon $120 at Williams Sonoma View on Walmart

Cuckoo Rice Cookers have a big fan base, and I think their loyal following will be very happy with this new offering. In addition to some great presets (including GABA rice), the cooking functions can be customized with the "My Mode" setting. We had some truly minor complaints about the quality of rice we cooked in the Cuckoo, but I suspect that it would only get better with more tinkering.

The Most Foolproof Rice Cooker

KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker

$400 at Amazon $400 at Williams Sonoma $399 at Walmart

The KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker is the ultimate “set it and forget it” machine. An integrated scale underneath the cookpot weighs the rice and calculates the perfect amount of water for that batch, then it’s automatically dispensed from a reservoir. The rice was cooked well, with distinct grains and minimal clumpiness, but the obvious appeal of this machine is in its foolproof versatility: It has 21 fully automated functions, including presets for six different varieties of beans.

The Best Budget Grain and Rice Cooker

Instant Pot 20 Cup Multigrain Cooker with CarbReduce Technology

$90

$60 at Amazon $100 at Home Depot $100 at Walmart

A 20-cup capacity is a lot. But if you like to batch cook and meal prep, you’re probably going to love the Instant Pot Multigrain Cooker. Like most of Instant’s appliances, this one has an intuitive control panel. It reminded me of the brand’s flagship appliance, the Instant Pot, because, like the Instant Pot, this rice cooker can also sauté and slow cook.

The Best Small Rice Cooker

Zojirushi NHS-06 3-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker

$55

$48 at Amazon $55 at Target $55 at Walmart

This three-cup rice cooker is speedy. It made perfect jasmine rice in almost half the time of other small rice cookers we tested. While it’s short on specialty programs (in fact, there’s just one button: start), it cooks good rice very fast. The clear lid was a cool feature we liked during our tests because it helped us monitor the rice’s progress.

The Best Mini Rice Cooker

Dash Mini Rice Cooker

$34 at Amazon $25 at Target View on Home Depot

The Dash Mini Rice Cooker is our favorite rice cooker for one. Its maximum capacity is 1.5 cups of dry rice—perfect if you cook for yourself or just hate dealing with leftovers. Its cook time was on par with the Zojirushi 3-Cup, making it one of the fastest small cookers we tested. We also appreciated that it automatically switches to Keep Warm mode once it’s done cooking.

The Tests

• Brown Basmati Rice: Brown rice can be difficult to get right in a rice cooker, as it often comes out split or gummy. To test this, we rinsed two cups of brown basmati rice with a mixing bowl and mesh strainer. We submerged the rice in water, swirled it 15 times, then drained it. We repeated this process seven times, or until the water ran clear. We added the rinsed rice, along with four cups of water, to the rice cooker. When possible, we followed the cooker’s instructions for cooking brown rice. After the rice cooked, we noted how long it took, and tasted it to evaluate the texture.
• Short Grain Japanese Rice Test: Many of the rice cookers we tested specialized in Japanese rice varieties. To test those functions—and see how regular rice cookers could handle it—we prepared 1.5 cups of short grain Japanese rice according to the rinse-and-drain method outlined above. We used the White Rice function when available, timed the results, then tasted and inspected the cooked rice.
• Quick Cook and Keep Warm Tests: To evaluate the rice cookers’ special features, we prepared three cups of white jasmine rice as with the previous two tests. We added six cups of water and cooked the rice using the cooker’s Quick Cook function (when available). We timed the process, then, as soon as it was done, took its temperature with an instant-read thermometer. We took the temperature and tasted the rice again after 30, 60, and 90 minutes, tracking how warm the rice stayed, and whether it got scorched or dried out.
• Small Rice Cooker Tests: Smaller rice cookers don’t have as many features, so we were primarily interested in how quickly and how well they could cook very small batches of rice. We tested them with white jasmine rice, first using the minimum capacity, then the maximum capacity. We timed the cooking process, tasted the rice, and noted any uneven spots. After the maximum capacity test, we tested the rice’s Keep Warm function as above (when available).
  

What We Learned

Rice Texture Was a Matter of Preference

What I consider perfectly cooked rice might taste too soft or too firm for you. If you’re highly opinionated about rice (perhaps you grew up in a rice cooker household), you’ll appreciate a rice cooker with lots of presets that can apply different timing and temperature settings depending on the variety. The Zojirushi Induction Rice Cooker and KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker for example, allowed us to set a target texture when cooking: regular, soft, or firm. If you want even more control than that, get the Cuckoo 6-Cup Micom Rice Cooker. With the Cuckoo, you can customize almost every aspect of the process. I’ll note here that if you favor Japanese rice varieties, you’ll be happy with either the Zojirushi or the Cuckoo. They both offer a preset for GABA rice, and the brown rice came out pleasantly sticky, with a texture that reminded us of short- and medium-grain Japanese rice varieties. If you aren’t that picky about your rice, get a rice cooker that only has a preset or two, like the Hamilton Beach Rice Cooker.

The Best Rice Cookers Were Fast

Most of the full-sized rice cookers on our winners' list had quick-cook options, and we consider that a huge plus. It doesn’t matter how good the rice is if it takes forever to cook. The Hamilton Beach made a near-perfect batch of brown rice in under an hour—an impressive feat. Consider, too, the batch size. Large batches of rice will take longer to cook, especially in machines that use fuzzy logic, like the Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer. (Rice cookers with fuzzy logic have a microprocessor that continually makes adjustments to the cooking time and temperature; they respond to what’s actually in the pot, rather than preset functions.) Think small rice cookers automatically cook faster? Not all of them, according to our tests. The 3-Cup Toshiba Small Rice Cooker took almost three times as long as its competitors to cook the minimum capacity of white jasmine rice.

Keep Warm Functions Were Only Helpful If They Preserved Quality

Beyond cooking rice, a rice cooker also serves as a rice warmer, keeping it at serving temperature for long periods without scorching or drying it out. Well, most of the rice cookers we tested could do that. (The Zojirushi 3-Cup Rice Cooker did not have a Keep Warm function.) We eliminated any rice cooker that produced dry, gummy, or burnt rice after 90 minutes in the Keep Warm setting. The best rice cookers kept the rice warm and tender, with distinct, fluffy grains that were almost as good as just-cooked rice. Models that produced brown, crispy rice after being kept warm, like the Green Life 4-Cup Rice Cooker, aren’t worth the purchase. In our tests, we found that the most successful Keep Warm settings weren’t too hot. For example, when rice finished cooking in the Aroma Housewares 8-Cup Digital Cool-Touch Rice Cooker, an instant-read thermometer registered its temperature as 200˚F. After 30 minutes, it was 170˚F, and 154˚F after 60 minutes. That’s still pleasantly hot, and it kept the rice from burning. No Keep Warm setting is perfect, but it was preferable when rice got slightly softer over time, as in the Instant Pot 20-Cup Multigran Cooker, rather than tough and dried out.

What Accessories Do You Need for a Rice Cooker?

Some of the rice cookers we tested came with accessories, like steamer baskets and paddles. But in our experience, these add-ons aren’t the greatest quality (we didn’t love the Hamilton Beach’s included paddle). If you plan on using your rice cooker a lot, it’s worth picking up the following accessories.

• Rice Washer and Strainer: Typically, rice is rinsed before cooking. You could simply use a mesh strainer for the job, but a dedicated rice washer is pure luxury.
• Steamer Basket: A steamer basket is meant to be used for vegetables or other foods, either on top of cooking rice or just over water. Two of the rice cookers on our list (the Hamilton Beach and KitchenAid) include steamer baskets.
• Rice Paddle: A rice paddle is made for fluffing the rice without smushing or damaging the grains. Traditionally, they’ve been made from wood, although heat-resistant and dishwasher-safe silicone can be a nice, if unconventional, option. Some of the rice cookers we tested came with paddles but it never hurts to have a spare on hand.
  

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Rice Cooker

The best rice cookers make evenly cooked grains, with no clumps or gumminess—and certainly no scorched rice. Speed is important, but not at the expense of good rice, so in order of importance, the rice makers we recommend first make good rice, then make good rice quickly. Special features and presets aren’t a requirement, but if your rice cooker has them, they need to do their job right: The grains should be distinct and soft enough to eat, but not so soft that they become mush. Long-grain rice should be fluffy and dry, while short- and medium-grain rice should cook up slightly sticky, not waterlogged or gummy. A good rice cooker should be easy to use, with user-friendly features like measurement markings or a built-in scale. Special features should enhance the rice-making experience, like efficient Keep Warm functions and the ability to delay the start of a cooking cycle. Plentiful presets for specific rice varieties are a must; presets for other grains and beans are a bonus.

Our Favorite Rice Cookers

The Best Rice Cooker

Hamilton Beach Programmable Rice Cooker

$67 at Amazon $67 at Home Depot $80 at Walmart

What we liked: I know. We were shocked that we liked this rice cooker so much, too. We’ve been recommending it since 2021, and it’s still at the top of our list. It’s the cheapest full-sized rice cooker we tested, but the facts are undeniable: It made the fluffiest, best-textured rice in the shortest amount of time. Seriously: Not counting quick-cook options, the Hamilton Beach made rice faster than any other rice cooker we tested; it even cooked a large batch of rice in around 30 minutes. It includes helpful accessories, like a steamer basket and a paddle; the $400 KitchenAid did not come with the latter. This is a forgiving rice cooker, and it produced good results even with small measuring errors. It truly is the best option for most people. 

What we didn’t like: We’ve run this rice cooker through multiple tests, including in our own kitchens. We’ve noticed that large batches of rice are more prone to drying out or browning. But that’s pretty common in rice cookers. Serious Eats editor Grace Kelly owns this rice cooker and notes that the hinged lid is prone to falling down when lifted, which can be unnerving when it’s hot. Its price has gone up over $10 since we began recommending it.

Key Specs

• Dimensions: 10.75 x 10.75 x 11.06 inches
• Weight: 4.8 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 7 cups
• Cooked capacity: 14 cups
• Accessories: Steamer basket, paddle, measuring cup
• Settings: 6 (white rice, quick white rice, whole grain, hot cereals, steam cook, and heat/simmer)

The Best Zojirushi Rice Cooker

Zojirushi Induction Heating System Rice Cooker & Warmer

$452

$369 at Amazon $385 at Williams Sonoma $385 at Target

What we liked: This Zojirushi model (there are many, and we’ve reviewed them here) uses induction technology to cook rice. Magnetic coils underneath the inner pot become the heat source, cooking the rice evenly and quickly. This is an excellent rice cooker for people who make a lot of Japanese rice. It includes settings for specialty varieties, like polished rice with the germ still attached. It also allows you to customize the doneness of your rice with regular, softer, or harder selections. Once we selected our cooking program, an internal scale weighed the rice and gave an estimated cook time. It was impressively accurate; once predicting our rice would be done just three minutes shy of its actual cook time. The digital display also counts upward after the Keep Warm setting kicks on—that was a helpful feature. The Extended Keep Warm was a particularly clever feature; it lowers the temperature slightly so rice doesn’t scorch or dry out over time. This rice cooker is easy to clean, thanks to a ceramic cookpot and removable inner lid.

What we didn’t like: The brown rice didn’t fare as well as the other varieties—its grains were split and slightly mushy. But that was a common theme among the rice cookers we tested. 

Key Specs

• Dimensions: 14 x 10 x 8 inches
• Weight: 9 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 5.5 cups
• Cooked capacity: 11 cups
• Accessories: Rice scoop, measuring cup
• Settings: 10 (including white rice, sushi rice, mixed rice, and sweet rice)

Another Great Zojirushi Rice Cooker

Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer

$229

$194 at Amazon $260 at Target $224 at Home Depot

What we liked: Admittedly, this rice cooker had home court advantage. It’s been our test kitchen’s favorite cooker for years. But we don’t bestow that title lightly: This is a top performer that makes consistently great rice thanks to smart technology that makes microadjustments to the programmed cooking time. It really is a shining example of fuzzy logic done well. It automatically clicks over to Keep Warm mode when it’s done cooking. Like many Zojirushi models, this one nails that slightly sticky, chewy texture. It comes with some welcome accessories, including a spatula and spatula holder.

What we didn’t like: Brown rice took a long time to cook. If you prefer firmer rice, you may want to look into the KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker, which offers a toothsome Firm setting.

Key Specs: 

• Dimensions: 13 x 10.13 x 8.13 inches
• Weight: 3.08 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 5.5 cups
• Cooked capacity: 11 cups
• Accessories: 
• Settings: 12 (including sweet rice, semi-brown, quick-cooking, and mixed)

The Best Customizable Rice Cooker

Cuckoo 6-Cup Micom Rice Cooker

$130

$80 at Amazon $120 at Williams Sonoma View on Walmart

What we liked: The Cuckoo Rice Cooker is a control freak’s dream come true. It has lots of customizable features, including how long the rice soaks before cooking, and how hot the water temperature gets. This is another good rice cooker for fans of GABA rice, as it has a special function for that variety. This is a moderately versatile cooker that can also make porridge and quinoa, and can steam. It has a self-clean function, which worked well when we did a one-off test. The LED screen was clear with crisp, easy-to-see letters—we could even read it easily in our brightly-lit testing environment. 

What we didn’t like: This rice cooker is a little overpriced if you don’t take advantage of its customization features. In our tests, it produced slightly sticky rice. In our most recent test, the jasmine rice was clumpy, too. I should not here, though, that the Cuckoo offers many customization options, and with more experimentation, we could, in theory, create far superior rice with this machine. 

Key Specs

• Dimensions: 8.6 x 9.4 x 13 inches
• Weight: 7 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 6 cups
• Cooked capacity: 12 cups
• Accessories: Rice scoop, measuring cup
• Settings: 7 (including white/sushi, brown/GABA, porridge, and quinoa)

The Most Foolproof Rice Cooker

KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker

$400 at Amazon $400 at Williams Sonoma $399 at Walmart

What we liked: The best part about the KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker is its integrated scale. Although we weighed our ingredients during the official test, you could get by with never measuring anything. (In fact, I own this rice cooker, and my method is to just dump a few handfuls of rice in the ceramic cookpot. It turns out perfectly every time.) The special functions and features aren’t necessarily unique to this model, although it does most of them better than other rice cookers. For example, its Delay Start can be set up to 24 hours later. Its included steamer basket allows you to steam vegetables while rice or grains cook. It’s the most versatile of the rice cookers we tested, too; it offers cooking presets for six types of beans, plus 10 grains, including steel cut oats, farro, and pearled barley. It’s also larger than almost every other rice cooker we tested. The only bigger cooker was from Instant.

What we didn’t like: Its versatility is what keeps this model from being the best rice cooker; it simply doesn’t have as many specific-to-rice features as the Zojirushi and Cuckoo. It takes up a lot of space and is the biggest rice cooker we tested, although that’s in large part due to the water tank. The Keep Warm setting maxes out at six hours, although you could argue that’s a good thing; much longer than that, and rice will inevitably dry out, even in the most advanced cookers. 

Key Specs

• Dimensions: 9.75 x 17.87 x 8.12 inches
• Weight: 10.5 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 8 cups
• Cooked capacity: 14 cups
• Accessories: Steamer basket
• Settings: 21 (including basmati rice, jasmine rice, sushi rice, quinoa, lentils, and chickpeas)

The Best Budget Grain and Rice Cooker

Instant Pot 20 Cup Multigrain Cooker with CarbReduce Technology

$90

$60 at Amazon $100 at Home Depot $100 at Walmart

What we liked: This is the rice cooker for meal preppers and batch cookers. It has a streamlined, easy-to-navigate control panel and the biggest capacity of any we tested. Even though its rice-specific settings are minimal—just White and Brown—it made nearly perfect short grain Japanese rice: lightly chewy, with a nicely sticky quality. The white jasmine rice came out fluffy, with distinct grains. The Keep Warm setting worked surprisingly well, with the grains of rice suffering minimal deterioration, even after 90 minutes. Not for nothing, this is a really pretty machine that would be right at home living on a kitchen counter.

What we didn’t like: The brown rice setting could be better. We tested this program twice, and both times the grains came out with frayed ends. With just eight features, I wish that at least one more was dedicated to rice, instead of a CarbReduce feature which “separates sugar and carbs from the rice” and drains them into the cook pot below 

Key Specs

• Dimensions: 12.5 x 12.25 x 9.5 inches
• Weight: 19.9 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 10 cups
• Cooked capacity: 20 cups
• Accessories: Rice paddle, measuring cup
• Settings: 8 (including white rice, brown rice, quinoa)

The Best Small Rice Cooker

Zojirushi NHS-06 3-Cup (Uncooked) Rice Cooker

$55

$48 at Amazon $55 at Target $55 at Walmart

What we liked: What we liked: Small and mighty, the Zojirushi was the quickest-cooking of all the three-cup rice cookers we tested. It doesn’t have any bells and whistles, like an internal scale or specialty features, but we liked the clear glass lids, which let us keep an eye on the rice as it simmered. It also doubles as a storage lid, so you can put leftover rice in the fridge without transferring it to a food storage container. The small handles on the side of the cooker made it easier to move around. Most important: The Zojirushi 3-Cup made fluffy rice without any hot spots in every test we performed. It’s speedy, too. A full batch (three cups) of jasmine rice cooked up in just 26 minutes.

What we didn’t like: Unlike larger Zojirushi models, this rice cooker doesn’t have a Keep Warm function. 

Key Specs

• Dimensions: 7.5 x 9.18 x 7.5 inches
• Weight: 3 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 1.75 cups
• Cooked capacity: 5.25 cups
• Accessories: Paddle and measuring cup
• Settings: On and off

The Best Mini Rice Cooker

Dash Mini Rice Cooker

$34 at Amazon $25 at Target View on Home Depot

What we liked: With a 1.5-cup capacity (making 2.5 cups of cooked rice), this teeny-tiny rice cooker is a good choice for apartments and dorms. In our tests, we were quickly reminded why bigger doesn’t always equal better: The Dash produced some of the best rice across the board, despite the fact that it doesn’t have any presets. The brown basmati rice had very few broken pieces, and the white jasmine rice was tender and fluffy, with distinct grains. It worked quickly, too. Its cookpot doubles as a storage

What we didn’t like: Toward the end of the Keep Warm test, we noticed some browning and drying around the rice’s edges. We conducted a few additional tests on this rice cooker, including one in which we measured according to the pot’s fill lines. That turned out mushier rice than when we measured the rice and water. That’s an easy fix; just weigh your ingredients.

Key Specs

• Dimensions: 
• Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Uncooked capacity: 1 cup
• Cooked capacity: 2.5 cups
• Accessories: Paddle and measuring cup
• Settings: On and warm

The Competition

• Cuckoo CR-0655F Rice Cooker & Warmer: This rice cooker was previously a winner, but the 6-Cup Micom Rice Cooker from Cuckoo was easier and more intuitive to use.
• Cuckoo 3-Cup Rice Cooker: This petite rice cooker won points for its good looks, but it made gummy rice in every test. 
• Aroma Housewares 8-Cup Digital Cool-Touch Rice Cooker: We tested this rice cooker, curious if it could unseat the Hamilton Beach as our top pick. It didn’t succeed. It made good—though not great—rice and is a bit cheaper, but it has fewer features. The Jasmati rice came out dry. 
• Tiger Multi-Functional Rice Cooker: This rice cooker is easy to use—its interface has cheerful pictures indicating the various presets—but it didn’t signal when the rice was done, and it made unevenly cooked brown rice
• Instant Pot Zest Rice Cooker: This model made very wet white rice, so we eliminated it from further testing. 
• Zojirushi Miacom Rice Cooker and Warmer: This cooker had comparable results to the other two Zojirushi rice cookers on our list, but it doesn’t boast as many features.
• Oyama 7-Cup Rice Cooker: The texture of this rice was very wet, and the cooker is no longer available. 
• Hamilton Beach Advanced Multi-Function Rice Cooker: The higher-end Hamilton Beach surprised us by being a middle-of-the-pack machine, in contrast to its cheaper, high-performing sibling. It seems to be discontinued and replaced by this newer model.
• Aroma Housewares Pot Style Rice Cooker: Every batch of rice we cooked in this rice cooker came out poorly, with some being soupy and others very firm.
• Muji Rice Cooker: This so-so expensive rice cooker has gone out of stock. 
• Panasonic One-Touch Fuzzy Logic Rice Cooker: This rice cooker’s fuzzy logic didn’t work so well—the cooked jasmine rice was wet. Also, it is unavailable.
• Black + Decker Rice Cooker: This model cooked white rice unevenly.
• Toshiba (TRCS01) Rice Cooker: This model made wet rice in almost every test, and the brown basmati rice was gummy.
• Cuckoo Pressure Rice Cooker (CRP-P1009SB): Across all of the tests, the rice was chewy and too firm.
• Toshiba Small Rice Cooker: The Toshiba took almost twice as long as the Zojirushi 3-Cup to cook jasmine rice, and almost three times as long to cook the smallest-allowed batch.
• Green Life 4-Cup Rice Cooker: The tall and narrow cookpot routinely overcooked the rice at the bottom. And it took twice as long to cook as similarly sized models, like the Dash Mini Rice Cooker.

FAQs

How much should you spend on a rice cooker?

You really don't have to spend a lot to get a good rice cooker. Our winning model, the Hamilton Beach, hovers around $65, and you may be able to snag a sale. But if you cook a lot of specialty rice, a rice cooker with more presets and features is worth the price bump. The Zojirushi Induction Heating System Rice Cooker costs over $400, and it's worth every penny—especially if you cook a lot of Japanese rice.

What’s the fastest rice cooker?

Once again, the Hamilton Beach. It could even make excellent brown rice in under an hour. But most of the rice cookers we tested had quick-cooking programs that delivered good results quickly.

What size rice cooker should I get?

Cooking for a household? You want a rice cooker with a cooked rice capacity of no less than 10 cups. Batch-cooking? A cooked capacity of 14 to 20 cups is best. Cooking for one or two? A three-cup rice cooker is enough.

Why We’re the Experts

• Rochelle Bilow is an editor at Serious Eats, a culinary school graduate, and a former line cook.
• Rochelle tested many of the rice cookers in this review along with her Serious Eats colleagues, evaluating their performance with brown, white, and specialty rice varieties.
• Serious Eats has been testing rice cookers since 2021. The best rice cooker, from Hamilton Beach, has topped our list since then.